Zionism

The Sources of Wisdom: Waltke’s Interpretation of Lady Wisdom

Wisdom may be thought of as acquired from her
“handmaidens” (9:3), not from her directly. Sources include the instruction of one’s
mother, one’s father, a thoughtful teacher, keen observation, teaching handed
down orally and in books.

But wisdom is not a personification of any of
these sources. Rather, she informs and supplies them all. God had her as a
child before he brought the time-space continuum into existence. He externalized her,
so that humanity might apprehend her and benefit from her apart from the
experience of his cultic presence and the other gifts – law, prophecy, the
promise of the Messiah - he would grant to a specific people only. This, I
would suggest, is the clear implication of 8:22-29 and 32-36 rightly
understood.

In short, it is possible and appropriate to
speak of wisdom as transmitted by the words of sages and godly parents, but it
is no less possible and appropriate to speak of wisdom as that which is spread
and granted by Wisdom herself. In 9:1-6, she sets the table, prepares food and
drink, and invites her guests to eat. Surely she offers her guests the
nourishment of wisdom itself.

It is also possible and appropriate to speak
of wisdom’s source as God’s own mouth. He is the one who grants wisdom and
vouchsafes ability, though elsewhere, wisdom is said rather to issue from the
lips of a parent, or be that which Lady Wisdom offers to her invited guests.
Prov 2:6-8:

כִּי־יְהוָה יִתֵּן חָכְמָהמִפִּיו דַּעַת וּתְבוּנָה

יִצְפֹּן לַיְשָׁרִים תּוּשִׁיָּהמָגֵן לְהֹלְכֵי תֹם

לִנְצֹר אָרְחוֹת מִשְׁפָּטוְדֶרֶךְ חֲסִידָיו יִשְׁמֹר

Forיהוה is the one who
bestows wisdom,

from his
mouth come knowledge and understanding.

To the upright he vouchsafes ability,

a
shield to those who journey with integrity.

Standing watch over the course
of justice,

he protects the way ahead of those
devoted to him.

Surely it is not incorrect to say that יהוה grants wisdom
to all in different measures, whether one believes in him or not. All wisdom
and ability are, of course, his to give and his to take away, as the Tanakh
notes in case after case.

יהוה
stands watch over and protects the way of those devoted to him (2:8). But it is
no less true that Wisdom stands watch over and guards those who devote
themselves to her. This is the teaching of Prov 4:6 quoted in the post preceding this one.

When speaking of wisdom’s universal claim on human
kind, it is appropriate to speak of wisdom as one who reveals herself to people
in general apart from God in the sense of the covenant God. Nevertheless, based
on 8:22 (God had her as a child), it is also appropriate to say that Wisdom is
divine without remainder.

Wisdom is not just a gift God gives. She herself
pertains to divinity though she may come into human kind’s possession (so also,
from a different point of view, in Genesis 3:5). As such she is by definition a
fount of divine revelation.

This is the teaching of the book of Proverbs,
and not just the book of Proverbs. It is useless to pretend otherwise.

Comments

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Excellent set of posts, John - and very well argued.

Waltke's volume 1 was required for my wisdom literature class back in undergrad (my prof. made it a textbook right as it came out in 04 so that he could get a desk copy). And I've greatly enjoyed Waltke's commentary on my own since then, though I don't yet have the skills to critique any of his Hebrew discussions. I'm presently working through volume 2 in my devotions.

It is possible that Fox chose for the most part not to interact with Waltke's commentary.

Whereas Fox's commentaries on Song of Songs, Qohelet, Proverbs, and Job (yet to appear) are geared to a general audience - Jewish, Christian, and "none of the above" - Waltke's commentaries are geared to a specifically Christian audience.

If you are not Christian, indeed, if you are not an evangelical Christian of a certain kind, the way Waltke develops his interpretation of a biblical book as a whole and specific passages sometimes comes across as being a function of that confessional framework rather than or more than a function of the text itself.

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